Mean with Money: VAT money-go-round makes my head spin

Tax red tape just causes aggravation — stop this shuffling of the same money

The Vatman cometh. Actually, it turned out to be two, one of them a woman. When I heard there would be a pair, I thought: “Oh no, Nice and Nasty, one to charm and soften and the other to put the boot in.”

It was made clear that it was a routine compliance check, one I have had to suffer every five years or so, but I would need my records going back four years. They thoughtfully enclosed factsheets CC/FS1 General Information and CC/FS3 Visits — surely you have read them? Both corkers. I could not put them down.

I have been making VAT returns since 1973, when this whole mad, dopey Alice in Wonderland scheme began, and I honestly can’t think of a bigger waste of time, energy and money for self-employed people like me and for the nation. The government makes you charge people 20% extra when you provide